The One That Got Away by M.B. Feeney

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Content Warning: Sexual situations and bad language.

Cover designer: Grafix Momma ~ Editor: Sydney Kalnay & R. E. Hargrave

There’s something about that one person we date in our teens but never become intimate with. Why does a sexless relationship render us unable to stop carrying that person, the what if, with us into our adult life?

For Heidi Johnson, Shane Hughes is her “one that got away.” Through the years, he has stayed in the back of her mind while she became an adult, a mother, and her own person. Meanwhile, Shane has lived a life of regret that he let Heidi go for the wrong reasons: fear and a misguided sense of not wanting to hurt either of them.

When they reconnect online, the memories they’ve tried to suppress over the years return, reigniting the feelings never explored ‘back in the day.’ Will a school reunion in their home town of London, surrounded by old school friends, help the pair address the questions the years apart left unanswered? Or will they still be left with wanting more?

For almost half an hour I sat at an abandoned table by the wall, smoking my cigarettes one after the other. Apart from a few voices filtering out through the open doors, I sat in complete silence. Not one other person came out, but I could hear voices. It seemed most of the smokers were outside the front, leaving me to feel like I was the only smoker in the building.

Leaning back against the wall, I let the soft breeze play over my flushed face and was savouring a bit of peace and quiet when I looked at my watch and jumped. I hadn’t realised that it was so late—time certainly does fly when you’re having fun. Which I had been having, before the need to escape into the dark overtook me. Crushing out my cigarette in the huge metal ashtray, I stood to go back inside. I stalled when I caught sight of Shane making his way through the crowded downstairs room of the pub, walking in the direction of the beer garden. Towards me. Crumpling back down onto the seat, I lit another cigarette, my hand shaking from nerves, and . . . something else. It was okay sitting close to him in a crowded room surrounded by people, but the garden was deserted and dark. He spotted me pretty quick thanks to the glowing orange tip of my lit cigarette.

“Nice spot.” He pointed to the overhanging branches of ivy that partially hid the table. Without speaking further, he sat down next to me and took my face between his warm, strong hands. All I could see were his beautiful eyes locking on me—right before his lips crashed into mine.

M. B. Feeney is an army brat who finally settled down in Birmingham, UK with her other half, two kids and a dog. Currently at university studying for her BA (Hons) in primary teaching, she procrastinates on her assignments by listening to music of all genres and trying to get ‘just one more paragraph’ written on whichever WIP is open. She is also a serious doodler and chocoholic. Writing has been her one true love ever since she could spell, and publishing is the final culmination of her hard work and ambition.

Her publishing career began with two novellas, and she currently has multiple projects under way whilst Honour, a compilation of her own military based shorts, was released in November 2013. Always having something on the go can often lead to block which eventually gets dissolved by good music and an even better book.

Her main reason for writing is to not only give her readers enjoyment, but also to create a story and characters that stay with readers long after the book is finished, and possibly make someone stop and think “what if…”